On Media

President Obama is not not in Afghanistan

By DYLAN BYERS

05/01/2012 03:29 PM EDT

So President Barack Obama is in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he will give a live televised address to the American people.

Almost everyone in the U.S. media knew about this six hours ago because local media, including Kabul-based TOLONews, began reporting the president's visit this morning. The story was soon picked up by international news organizations and by the New York Post, causing the White House to issue stern denials: "That report is not accurate and the president is not in Kabul," National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told NewsCore. (Conveniently, Obama arrived at Bagram).

But to a remarkable degree — the Post aside — everyone respected the White House's embargo.

BuzzFeed's Zeke Miller has the breakdown of how the White House tried to "smother" the news.

UPDATE: White House spokesperson Jennifer Palmieri emails:

He was not in Afghanistan at the time of TOLONews tweet. He landed hours later.